Chiefs age discrimination trial underway, Pioli may testify

Both sides presented opening arguments in the case of an age discrimination lawsuit against the Chiefs

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FILE PHOTO: A Kansas City Chiefs flag waves in the wind during the game in October 2004 at Arrowhead Stadium Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)

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INDEPENDENCE, Mo - Jurors have to decide if age was a likely factor when the Kansas City Chiefs fired 61-year-old maintenance manager Steve Cox.

Prosecutors touted the sterling 12-year reputation of Cox.

After Cox earned Employee of the Month in 2009 and a promotion in 2010, prosecutors called his termination a few months later a shock. Poor performance, they said, was never addressed.

The Chiefs claim Cox was fired for giving a raise to an employee without permission. Cox said he never had to ask before. He was replaced by a man almost 25 years younger who was also a friend of a new executive.

But the case seems to rest on what former employee Doug Hopkins heard at a director's meeting three months after Cox's firing. Hopkins said it pointed to the changing culture of the Chiefs in 2011.

"He was sick and tired of these old, entitled employees," said Hopkins, recalling a comment he heard.

"He was referring to the old regime," argued defense attorney Anthony Romano.

Was CFO Dan Crumb speaking out against the 'old regime' or older employees?